The response of blood vessels to physiological and pathological stimuli partly depends on the crosstalk between endothelial cells (EC) lining the luminal side and smooth muscle cells (SMC) building the inner part of the vascular wall. Thus, the in vitro analysis of the pathophysiology of blood vessels requires co-culture systems of EC and SMC. We have developed and validated a modified 3D sandwich co-culture (3D SW-CC) of EC and SMC employing open µ-Slides with a thin glass bottom allowing direct imaging. The culture dish comprises of an intermediate plate to minimize the meniscus resulting in homogenous cell distribution...

Recent technological and protocol developments have greatly increased the ability to utilize stem cells transformed into cardiomyocytes as models to study human heart muscle development and how this is affected by disease associated mutations in a variety of sarcomere proteins. In this perspective we provide an overview of these emerging technologies and how they are being used to create better models of "disease in a dish" for both research and screening assays. We also consider the value of these assays as models to explore the seminal processes in initiation of the disease development and the possibility of early interventions...

The dynamic drying process of the active layer should play a vitally important role in determining the performance of polymer solar cells (PSCs). Donor molecular packing and acceptor redistribution can be optimized by two successive post-treatments on the active layer. The blend films were freshly prepared by spin-coating method and then immediately transferred to a covered glass Petri dish to allow self-assembly of the donor molecules. The films were then treated with methanol or PFN-methanol solution to adjust the acceptor redistribution...

Metastasis is an important hallmark of malignant tumors. In this study, we developed a microfluidic system to screen highly metastatic sublines via differential resolution of cell invasiveness. The system was composed of a PDMS-glass device connected with a syringe pump and a Petri dish. To facilitate the selection process, a long-term cell invasion driving force based on a chemotactic factor gradient was created using the Petri dish-based liquid supply pattern, and the invasive cells were collected for round-by-round selection via an open region in the chip...

Some of the main causes of mortality and morbidity among the developed countries - such as the cardiovascular, neurological and oncologic diseases - are deeply associated with modifiable risk factors. Primordial/primary prevention strategies that alter our environment can have an impact on these risk factors. The authors of this Cochrane systematic review sought evidence from randomized controlled trials to study the effect of the size of portions, packages, dishes and cups, as well as their respective formats, on the consumption and selection of food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and tobacco products...

Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) can differentiate into virtually any cell type in the body, making them attractive for both regenerative medicine and drug discovery. Over the past 10 years, technological advances and innovative platforms have yielded first-in-man PSC-based clinical trials and opened up new approaches for disease modeling and drug development. Induced PSCs have become the foremost alternative to embryonic stem cells and accelerated the development of disease-in-a-dish models. Over the years and with each new discovery, PSCs have proven to be extremely versatile...

Studying the cellular and molecular bases governing development, and normal and abnormal functions of the human CNS is hampered by its complexity and the very limited possibility of experimentally manipulating it in vivo. Development of 3D, tissue-like culture systems offers much promise for boosting our understanding of human neural development, birth defects, neurodegenerative diseases and neural injury, and for providing platforms that will more accurately predict efficacy of putative therapeutic compounds and assess responses to potentially neurotoxic agents...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Controlling food portion sizes can help reduce energy intake, but the effect of different portion-control methods on weight management is not known. In a one-year randomized trial, we tested whether the efficacy of a behavioral weight-loss program was improved by incorporating either of two portion-control strategies instead of standard advice about eating less. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The Portion-Control Strategies Trial included 186 women with obesity (81%) or overweight (19%)...

BACKGROUND: The use of computers to administer dietary assessment questionnaires has shown potential, particularly due to the variety of interactive features that can attract and sustain children's attention. Cognitive interviews can help researchers to gain insights into how children understand and elaborate their response processes in this type of questionnaire. OBJECTIVE: To present the cognitive interview results of children who answered the WebCAAFE, a Web-based questionnaire, to obtain an in-depth understanding of children's response processes...

Dysphagia due to skeletal causes is a rare entity. A large cervical osteophyte can cause mechanical compression of the pharyngo-oesophageal segment leading to dysphagia. Large cervical osteophytes can occur in cervical spondylosis, ankylosing spondylitis or Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH). A 60-year-old female came with progressive dysphagia due to a giant cervical osteophyte anterior to C4 and C5 vertebral bodies causing compression of the pharyngo-oesophageal segment. The patient was treated by surgical excision of the osteophyte by orthopaedic surgeons...

BACKGROUND: Phytic acid (PA), a naturally occurring compound of plant food, is generally considered to affect mineral bioavailability. The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability of the PA/calcium molar ratio as a predictive factor of calcium accessibility in composed dishes and their ingredients. RESULTS: We chose dishes whose ingredients were rich in Ca (milk or cheese) or in PA (whole-wheat cereals) in order to consider a range of PA/Ca ratios (from 0 to 2...

The bystander effects of anti-cancer ionizing radiation have been widely studied, but far less is known about such effects in the case of non-ionizing photodynamic therapy (PDT). In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that photodynamically-stressed prostate cancer PC3 cells can elicit nitric oxide (NO)-mediated pro-growth/migration responses in non-stressed bystander cells. A novel approach was used whereby both cell populations existed on a culture dish, but made no physical contact with one other...

Deep tissue injury (DTI) is a severe kind of pressure ulcers formed by sustained deformation of muscle tissues over bony prominences. As a major clinical issue, DTI affects people with physical disabilities, and is obviously related to the load-bearing capacity of muscle cells in various in-vivo conditions. It is important to provide a preventive approach to help muscle cells from being damaged by compressive stress. In this study, we hypothesized that cyclic compressive stimulation could strengthen muscle cells against compressive damage and enhance the cell plasma membrane resealing capability...

The efficacy of topical, leaf residue, and soil drench applications with Isaria fumosorosea blastospores (Ifr strain 3581) was assessed for the management of the citrus root weevil, Diaprepes abbreviatus (L.). Blastospores of Ifr were applied topically at a rate of 10⁷ blastospores mL(-1) on both the larvae and adults, and each insect stage was incubated in rearing cups with artificial diet at 25 °C, either in the dark or in a growth chamber under a 16 h photophase for 2 weeks, respectively. Percent larval and adult mortality due to the infection of Ifr was assessed after 14 days as compared to untreated controls...

The aim of this study was to identify the composition of the essential oil from leaves of Lippia sidoides (EOLS), a typical shrub commonly found in the dry northeast of Brazil, popularly known as "alecrim-pimenta". Additionally, we investigated the nymphicidal, ovicidal, phagoinhibitory and excretion effects of EOLS, its major constituent thymol and its isomer carvacrol, on fourth instar nymphs and eggs of Rhodnius prolixus, the Chagas' disease vector. The nymphicidal and ovicidal activity of thymol, carvacrol, and EOLS was assessed by tests using impregnated Petri dishes...

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) provide an unparalleled opportunity to establish in vitro differentiation models that will transform our approach to the study of human development. In the case of the blood system, these models will enable investigation of the earliest stages of human embryonic haematopoiesis that was previously not possible. In addition, they will provide platforms for studying the origins of human blood cell diseases and for generating de novo haematopoietic stem and progenitor cell populations for cell-based regenerative therapies...

Clinical trials 'in a dish' involve testing medical therapies for safety or effectiveness in the laboratory with human tissue. This has become possible owing to recent biotechnology advances including induced pluripotent stem cells, organs-on-a-chip, and whole-genome sequencing. We provide here an overview of the landscape and highlight steps the FDA is taking to advance the science of clinical trials in a dish and to support the development and validation of new regulatory paradigms to assess drug safety using these new technologies...

BACKGROUND: Subsistence rice farmers in south-eastern Tanzania are often migratory, spending weeks or months tending to crops in distant fields along the river valleys and living in improvised structures known as Shamba huts, not fully protected from mosquitoes. These farmers also experience poor access to organized preventive and curative services due to long distances. Mosquito biting exposure in these rice fields, relative to main village residences was assessed, then a portable mosquito-proof hut was developed and tested for protecting these migratory farmers...